Manuel de Mendíburu

Born at Lima, 29 October, 1805; died 21 January, 1885. He was educated in the University of S. Marcos del Rimac under the direction of Dr. Javier de Luna Pizarro, and in 1819 was appointed amanuensis of the Consulate. Upon the declaration of Peruvian independence he entered the army as an ensign and was afterwards promoted by General San Martin to the rank of lieutenant. Having been present at the battles of Calana Locucuba, Torata, and Moquegua, captured by the Spaniards, and then set at liberty, he rose to be captain in 1830. A year later he was sent on special commissions to Brazil and thence to Spain. Early in 1834 he became known in politics, and in 1851 was promoted to brigadier general. After serving as prefect of several departments in succession, he was appointed in 1870 director of the School of Arts and Trades at Lima. He also held at various times the portfolios of agriculture, foreign affairs, war, and marine, served several terms as a member of the Chamber of Deputies, became general-in-chief of the army, vice-president of the consitutent Assembly, and diplomatic representative of Peru in Great Britain, Bolivia, and Chile, in which last post he won general esteem by his uprightness and kindness. Mendíburu's monumental work, the "Diccionario historico biografico del Peuú", a model of its kind in America, cost him long years of constant labour. It relates the principal achievements of those who did good service to Peru, and is an historical thesaurus of great utility to those engaged in the special study of Peruvian history during the rule of the Incas and in the colonial period. He also reorganized the library and national archives at Lima.